"Dear ladies and gentlemen, today we have gathered here to unite two loving hearts in sacred matrimony..."
Huh?
The moment I opened my eyes, I was instantly seized with terror.
I was in a completely unfamiliar place.
And what was worse was that the situation itself seemed strangely unusual.
Right in front of me stood a man in a strict dark suit — a person I had never seen before in my life. A little farther away, opposite us, an elderly man in robes resembling a priest’s vestments stood frozen. In his hands, he held an old book and spoke in a solemn, almost ceremonial voice:
"Today, before the face of God, you will make vows that will bind you with sacred ties and that you must keep until the end of your days..."
No matter how you looked at it, this whole thing suspiciously resembled a wedding ceremony.
Was this... some kind of prank?
How could I have suddenly ended up here?..
But as absurd as it sounded, a fact remained a fact: I was indeed standing in the middle of someone else’s wedding, surrounded by people I did not know at all.
The last thing preserved in my memory was the operating room. The cold light of the lamps, the operating table, and the doctors’ conversations before my heart surgery. I was given anesthesia... and then I suddenly woke up here.
Of course, the most reasonable thing would be to decide that all of this was just a delusional dream induced by the anesthesia.
But...
Something inside me persistently suggested otherwise: this was not a dream.
All the details around me felt too real — the hushed whispers of the guests, the soft glow of the chandeliers, the air heavy with tension.
Barely listening to the priest’s speech and ignoring the curious stares of those around me, I cautiously pinched my cheek.
And immediately felt quite tangible pain.
So then...
This really was not a dream.
"...Lily, what are you doing?" The man opposite me frowned slightly, watching me with clear bewilderment.
Only after these words did I finally truly look at him.
Ah...
He really was handsome.
The strict wedding suit fit him impeccably, accentuating his broad shoulders, straight posture, and noble facial features. Every detail of his appearance looked so perfect that it was simply impossible to argue with it.
And yet...
If the man before me was the groom, then who was I in this situation?
The most obvious explanation suggested itself: I was his bride. Why else would I be standing next to him at the altar?
Moreover, the moment I touched the fabric of my attire, my fingers immediately felt the softness of expensive silk and delicate lace. Looking down, I finally confirmed my suspicions.
I was wearing a white wedding dress.
For some completely incomprehensible reason, I had suddenly found myself at someone else’s wedding... in the role of the bride.
That alone was enough to send me into shock.
But what was even worse was...
"Lily?.." The man called me again softly. "Lily, are you all right?"
This person standing right before me, looking at me with genuine concern...
Damn it.
I nervously swallowed and looked more closely at his face, still unable to believe my own eyes.
He was tall and had a beautiful, sturdy build that even the strict wedding suit could not hide. His short hair was silver, as if wrapped in mist. Beneath the same light, perfectly defined eyebrows shone amazing blue eyes the color of the sea.
No...
Those were perhaps the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.
A straight, slightly upturned nose, elegantly shaped lips as if created by a sculptor’s hand, and facial features so perfect they seemed almost unreal...
Yes, this was a direct hit.
And the most astonishing thing was that, despite seeing this person for the first time in my life, I recognized him immediately.
Of course I recognized him.
Because standing before me was the main character of my favorite novel — the very one I had been rereading just before I was taken away for surgery.
The name slipped from my lips softly, almost disbelievingly:
"...Tristan?"
"Yes, Lily?" he responded at once.
Well, damn.
It really was him — Tristan Eclipse, the main character of the novel "Actually, I Was the Real Saint"! A man whose face adorned almost every volume of the novel, so confusing him with someone else was simply impossible. And recently, the novel had even been released as a comic, which I had also reread several times in a row...
In short, it was hard not to recognize someone whose face had appeared before my eyes far too often.
But... wait.
There was a far more serious problem.
If Tristan Eclipse was getting married now, then his bride could only be one woman.
I felt like cursing again.
I remembered how, a few seconds ago, he had called me:
"Lily."
But that was only a nickname.
The full name was different.
Liliana Blaze.
The main heroine of the novel "Actually, I Was the Real Saint".
At this realization, an icy chill instantly ran down my spine, and my palms grew sweaty.
Had I been transported into a novel and become its main heroine?..
No.
What was even worse — right now, I was marrying the main character?!
So this was already the very end of the story? But if some gods really intended to transplant me into a book, why now?! Couldn’t they have done it at least a little earlier?!
I looked around in a panic.
And, as expected, the faces of the guests — especially those sitting in the front rows — also looked familiar to me. Allies and friends of the main characters. Some of them were no longer hiding tears of joy as they watched the wedding ceremony.
Meanwhile, my stomach was cramping more and more from the rising panic.
And just at that moment, the priest nearly finished his speech.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
"...With that, I conclude and now wish to ask you. Grand Duke, His Grace Tristan Eclipse, do you swear to love, respect, and cherish your spouse in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"Yes," he answered without the slightest hesitation.
The handsome man looked at me with a soft, almost tender smile, one that would probably have made any normal girl’s legs give way long ago.
"Now you, Lady Liliana Blaze. Do you swear to love, respect, and cherish your husband in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
The priest’s words dissolved into the ensuing silence.
The cathedral became so quiet that it seemed you could even hear the faint crackling of the candles.
The priest and the main character looked at me expectantly.
As did everyone else.
Dozens of gazes were fixed solely on me.
But my thoughts at that moment were infinitely far away.
Because, in truth, at that moment there was only one person on my mind.
Someone who was not in this cathedral.
But someone who, in this world where I had now arrived, was more precious to me than anything else.
I involuntarily swallowed, feeling my heart begin to beat faster with anxiety.
Right now, I desperately wanted to see her.
As soon as possible.
"...Lily?" The main character called out to me awkwardly when my silence stretched on longer than it should have.
But I was not going to stay here another second.
The next moment, with one sharp movement, I tore the wedding veil from my head. It fell to the stone floor like a light white cloud, like an unnecessary decoration.
"No. I do not consent!"
And besides, mister, I am seeing you for the first time in my life!
Without giving anyone a chance to recover, I spun around sharply and rushed toward the exit of the cathedral, without looking back even once.
This day probably could truly be called historic.
After all, it is not every day that the main heroine of a novel runs away from her own wedding, leaving the main character standing at the altar.
But I did not care at all — not about the guests’ reactions, not about the priest’s shock, not even about Tristan Eclipse himself.
Because right now, my thoughts were occupied by only one thing.
Kaila, my treasure, hold on! I am coming to you!